


Stretchy

by blueincandescence



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, formerly part of my Experimental Design drabble collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-08-15 00:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8034307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueincandescence/pseuds/blueincandescence
Summary: Natasha can't help but indulge in euphemisms when Tony unveils a surprise for Bruce.





	Stretchy

**Author's Note:**

> the-real-bruce-banner said: Brucenat; Pants

Tony lured them all with the promise of an authentic Cajun experience flown in from New Orleans. When the elevator whizzed past the dining floors, Natasha was not at all surprised. Clint furiously jabbed buttons, elbowing Thor in the process. Natasha caught Steve’s huff, then rolled her eyes over to Bruce’s ‘we knew what we were risking’ shrug. This was Tony, after all. He couldn’t do dinner without a show.

“An unveiling!” Tony’s voice boomed out as the elevator doors opened on him. He was standing in the middle of his lab with his arms raised like Dr. Frankenstein calling down lightning.

They approached with caution, eyes drawn to the floor as a panel pulled back to reveal a rising platform. Dry ice rolled across her boots, and Natasha pursed her lips in concern for the leather.

Bruce stopped to her left, one step behind but three steps closer, she noticed, than anyone else was standing. Ostensibly so she could hear him say, “Nothing some polish won’t fix.”

“You think Tony will shine my shoes for me?” Natasha sent a sidelong smirk for good measure.

“Peanut gallery? Care to share?”

Covering his smile with a cough, Bruce backed up to give Tony the focused attention he so often demanded.

There was a speech, of course. The nobility of new advances in technology and science. The hardships Tony faced, living with his own genius. Natasha scrolled through her phone.

She only looked up when Tony started waxing poetic about his friendship with Bruce. For his part, Bruce looked caught between bemused gratitude and terror of the unknown.

Finally — finally — the platform opened up. The big unveiling.

“Pants.” Steve voiced it, but the incredulousness was a shared reaction.

“Not just pants,” Tony countered, looking flabbergasted at the lack of enthusiasm.

“Purple pants,” Clint deadpanned, and a breath later Bruce said, “Really?”

Tony twirled his finger in the air. “JARVIS, impress the people.”

The platform widened, pulling the metallic purple material at the waist and knees. Pulling and pulling, wider and wider. One by one, the boys were won over, each stepping past her to poke and prod the material. Clint pulled an army knife out, and Tony told him to do his worst. Clint handed the knife to Thor.

An argument sprung up. Bruce patted an increasingly frazzled Tony on the shoulder in thanks and wandered back to her. He lifted his brows in a question.

“Stretchy,” Natasha offered. They watched Tony make time out gestures as Thor appraised the pants for the best point of attack for a moment before she asked, “Does it make you more comfortable with the lullaby solution?”

Bruce gave a patented grimace-smile. “Failing to preserve my modesty is low on the list of things that could go horribly, horribly wrong. But it is on it.”

Natasha quirked a brow at him, but he stubbornly looked past her.

Thor reached above Tony to stab the crotch. Bruce flinched, though the material resisted the blade. “It really is a stunning improvement on polymers.”

“Mm,” Natasha agreed, taking a step in. “But I’m not sure I’d call the aesthetics an improvement.”

Bruce’s head swiveled toward her, and even he couldn’t pretend not to catch on to the direction of her roving gaze. She raised her smirk to the color rising in his neck, the pinch of suspicion at the corner of his lips.

Natasha turned on her heel and left Bruce to decide what to do about the curiosity, the heat kindling behind his eyes.

She did have to hand it to Tony. He’d delivered on the show, dinner was next, and who knew? Maybe she’d even get dessert.


End file.
